Heat exchange apparatus and element or plate therefor



R. SELIGMAN ET AL March so, 1937.

HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS AND ELEMENT OR PLATE THEREFOR Filed Dec. 15, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l W W a n n p rd .r 3} f5 1x4 7 Tun i 1. EH WW March 30, 1937" R SELIGMAN ET AL 'HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS AND ELEMENT OR PLATE THEREFOR Filed Dec. 15, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 7&6

my a Z@ M M 3 11; wrhd 9 A wi Vim.

Patented Mar. 30, 1-937 HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS AND ELE-' MENT OR PLATE THEREFOR Richard Seligman, Wimbledon, William Edward Crosby, Kingston, and Hugh Frederick Goodman, Barnes, London, England, assignors to The Aluminium Plant and Vessel Company Limited, Wandsworth, London land, a British company i ry. En

Application December 15,1934, Serial No. 757,690

In Great Britain December 20, 1 933 Claims. (or. 257-245);

This invention relates to surface-heat exchange 7 elements or plates for use in heat exchangers of the built-up type comprising a plurality of preformed elements or plates clamped or, held in. juxtaposed relation in such a manner to pro--v vide passages or channels for the fiuids between which an exchange of heat is desired.

In some forms of heat exchangers of the above mentioned type, the individual elements or plates 10 are separated and spaced the required distance from one another by spacing members constituted by frames of rectangular, annular or other formation suitably interposed between the marginal portions of each pair of adjacent elements or plates and, in order to ensure that the fluids or liquids between which an exchange of heat is desired shall be kept entirely separate, the said frames or spacing members are sometimes provided with grooves or channels for the reception of a resilient packing material such as rubber.

One of the objects of the present invention isplate and partly by an adjacent surface-of a sep-' arate element or packing retaining member weld-,

ed, rivetted, clamped, or otherwise secured thereto. For example, the marginal portions of the heat exchange elements or plates may be bent or pressed so that they are caused to assume a substantially L-shaped cross section and a septhe invention;

to provide an improved and simplified form of heat exchange element in which the necessity for the use of spacing members of the nature above referred to is eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to vide an improved form of heat exchange element or plate which will enable the packing means to -be carried directly thereby.

According to the invention the marginal edges of the heat exchange element are provided with one or more packing receiving grooves or channels formed therein wholly or partially by pressing, folding, bending, spinning or equivalent deforming operation.

The aforesaidrheat exchange elements or plates promay be composed of copper, tinned copper, stainless steel, or other metal according to'the nature I and properties of the fluids or liquids to be used and, in some instances, the marginal edges and/or one or more walls of the grooves may be strengthened, stiffened or supported by a separate element welded, rivetted, or otherwise se cured thereto. For example,the supporting element may be arranged so ,thatit is adapted to abut against and provide supports for substantially the whole of the marginal edges beyond the groove and substantially the whole of the outer surface of the outer wall of the aforesaid 50 groove.

Also, in some instances the marginal portions"- arate stifiening element or packing retaining member may be welded or otherwise secured thereto so that a U or other appropriately shaped 1o packing groove or channel is formed between one of the side surfaces of the separate element and the opposite surface of the L-shaped portion.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Fig. 1 is a front view of one form of pressed heat exchange element produced in accordance with Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a series of plates in superposed relation, the section being taken on' the line 3 -3 ofFigFI; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4ofFig.1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of pressed heat exchange element produced in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 6 is ,a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view of a series of plates in superposed relation and ofthe form shown in Fig.5, the section being taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of a modification of the form of plate shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1' to 4, the heat exchange element therein shown consists of a sheet metal pressing I composed of stainless steel or other suitable metal, the central and major portion of the sheet being pressed to form suitable liquid channels and the greater portion of the marginal edges being pressed so that it is substantially L-shaped in section as shown in Fig. 2, the vertical leg of the L thereby forming a perpendicular flange and the inner boundary of a resilient packing strip indicated at 2. The outer wall of the packing strip is supportedby metallic strips 3rivetted, welded or otherwise secured to the'marginal edges of the pressing, such strips serving the double function Fig. 3 so that the plates in sequence consist of alternately arranged right and left-handed plates, a right hand plate being formed so that it is a mirror view-of a left handed plate. Thus the outlet port 5 of plate I registers with the transfer port 6 of the next plate la and so on throughout the stack. The packing strips 2 surround and form borders for the fluid passages or chambers formed between each pair of successive plates and are also arranged so that they extend around the outer walls of the ports'5, the plate in the region of these walls also being pressed so that it is L-shaped insection. Additional packing strips 20. are provided around the transfer ports 6 the edges of which are also formed so that they are substantially L-shaped in section and so that one leg of the L forms a boundary for the packing strips, the outer surfaces of the packing strips being, as-before, supported by metallic stiffening and packing retaining strips as indicated at 3a.

' The portions of the packing retaining elements located adjacent the inner edges of a transfer port are preferably formed with one or more grooves l0 leading to the outer edges of the plate so that any liquid which may leak past the pack-- ing 2 or the packing 2a will be led away to the outside of the heat exchanger as is described for example in British Specification No. 223,033, thereby preventing any mixing of the two liquids between which heat exchange is being efiected.

40 In order that liquid flowing through one of the ports 5 may be led into the chamber formed between the plate I and the adjacent plate la, the former plate is formed with a depression I2 for guiding the liquid under that portion of the adjacent plate which is pressed out to accommodate .the packings 2 and 2a as may be seen from Fig. 3. Into such depressions are welded or otherwise suitably secured bridge pieces l4 which serve to support or stifien the plates in these regions and to ensure proper contact between the outer surface of the depression l2 and the packings 2 and 2a of the adjacent plate, and the ends of which serve as boundaries for the packings 2 which extend along the ends of the ports 5.

= The aforesaid bridge pieces are preferably formed with a plurality of grooves 16 as indicated in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 to provide channels for the liquid flowing between plates 1 and la. At'the upper and lower ends of the-plates formed end pieces 18 may be provided as, for example, for the supporting and guiding of the plates and in suchv regions where the packings do not follow the outer contour of the plates, the end pieces may be shaped to form the outer boundaries of the packing strips.

In Fig. 5 there is shown one end of an alternative form of plate in which the greater part of the outer as well as the inner boundary of the packing strips 2 is formed by a part of the marginal edge of the plate as, for example, by pressing a U-shaped groove 20 in the marginal edges of the plate and accommodating the packing strips in the groove as is indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. Ifdesired, the marginal edges may be 75 further stiffened by welding or otherwise securing the stiffening strips 'thereto. In this form of the invention, the ends of the depressions I 2 are bounded by two raised portions 22 (Fig. 6) which continue the innerboundaries of the packing 2 and separate pieces or strips 24 are fitted into the back of the plate in order to preserve a flatv surface for contact with the packing 2 of the next plate.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 also illustrate an alternative form of support for the bottom portions of de-- pressions l2 which are provided for leading the liquid under the adjacent plate. In this instance, further depressions 25 are formed in the underside of each plate, such depressions being of smaller area than the depressions l2 and being I arranged so that they project into a depression l2 of an adjacent plate and thereby serve to hold the outer wall of the latter depression firmly in contact with the packings of the next plate (as shown in Fig. 7) while permitting the liquid to flow through the depressions i2 and around the depressions 25 extending thereacross.

In Fig.8 there is shown one end of another alternative form of plate which is similar to that shown in Fig. 5 as regards its marginal edge formation but in which supporting projections 30 are pressed upwards from the bottoms of the depressions I2 and serve to stiffen the plate in this region. The undersides of these projections are not necessarily fllled in as when their open ends (see Fig. 9) are in contact with the next plate, they lie between the packings bounding such plate and the packings bounding the transfer port thereof and hence are not in contact with either liquid.

While the heat exchange elements have been shown with an inlet port, an outlet port, and two transfer ports, it will be appreciated that, in some instances, only one or some of these ports will be required depending upon the path to be traversed by the heat exchanging medium.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is 1. A unitary heat exchange element and packing holding member for use with surface heat exchangers of the juxtaposed plate type, comprising a sheet of metal having downwardly pressed marginal edges forming packing receiving grooves, a stiffening element secured to said marginal edges, another downwardly pressed portion forming a recess located inwardly 01' the marginal edges and a stiffening bridge for said last mentioned downwardly pressed portion.

2. In a heat exchanger for fluids, a plurality of spaced flow controlling and heat exchange elements assembled side by side to form a plurality of shallow fluid flow spaces, each element consisting of a sheet metal plate-like member having the marginal edges pressed downwardly so that an outer wall of the pressed downwardly portion forms a boundary for a fluid flow space between a pair of adjacent heat exchange elements, resilient packing elements located ,in the downwardly pressed portions of each element and abutting the next element, and a separate stiffening element secured in position on the marginal edges of each heat exchange element, each heat exchange element also having an additional downwardly pressed portion inwardly of its marginal edge and forming a channel for guiding fluid under the marginal packing receiving portions of the next element, and an additional stiffening member 10- cated in said additional downwardly pressed portion.

3. In a heat exchanger for fluids, a plurality of spaced flow controlling and heat exchange elements assembled side by side to form a plurality of shallow fluid flow spaces, each element consisting of a sheet metal plate-like member, formed with openings admitting fluid to and from the fluid flow spaces and with downwardly pressed marginal edges forming both boundaries for the fluid flow spaces between adjacent heat exchange elements and packing receiving grooves around said boundaries and around said openings, said grooves having a depth corresponding substantially with the spacing between the elements, resilient packing elements located in the packing receiving grooves and an additional downwardly pressed portion in each element forming a channel for guiding .fluid under the packing receiving grooves of the next element.

4. In a heat exchanger for fluids, a plurality-of spaced flow controlling and heat exchange elements assembled side by side to form a plurality of shallow fluid flow spaces, each element consisting of a sheet metal plate-like member formed with openings admitting fluid to and from the fluid flow spaces and with downwardly pressed marginal edges forming packing receiving grooves, said grooves having a depth corresponding substantially with the spacing between the elements, resilient packing elements located in said grooves, each heat exchange element also having an additional downwardly pressed portion inwardly of its marginal edge and forming a recess for guiding fluid under the packing receiving grooves of the nextelement, the latter being formed with a projection extending into and engaging with the bottom wall of the said recess thereby holding the outer wall of such recess firmly in contact with the resilient packing elements of another element on the opposite side of said recess.

5. In a heat exchanger for fluids, a plurality of spaced flow controlling and heat exchange elements assembled side by side to form a plurality of shallow fluid flow spaces, each element consisting of a sheet metal plate-like member formed with openings admitting fluid to and from the fluid flow spaces and with downwardly pressed marginal edges forming both boundaries for the fluid flow spaces between adjacent elements and packing receiving grooves, said grooves having a depth corresponding substantially with the spacing between the elements, resilient packing elements located in said grooves, each heat exchange element also having an additional downwardly pressed portion located inwardly of its marginal edge and forming a channel for guiding fluid under the marginal packing receiving grooves of the next element, parts of the lower wall of said channel being pressed up to form supports for an adjacent element.

6. In a heat exchanger for fluids, a plurality of spaced flow controlling and heat exchange elements assembled side by side to form a plurality of shallow fluid flow spaces, each element consisting of a sheet metal plate-like member formed with openings admitting fluid to and from the fluid flow spaces and with downwardly pressed marginal edges forming both boundaries for the fluid flow spaces between adjacent elements and packing receiving grooves, resilient packing elements located in said grooves, each heat exchange element also having a downwardly pressed portion forming a channel for guiding fluid under the marginal packing receiving grooves of the next element, the ends of the ad-- ditional downwardly pressed portion being bounded by raised portions which continue the inner boundaries of the resilient packing elements, and separate strips fitted into the back of the raised portions so as to preserve a flat surface for contact with a resilient packing element of the next heat exchange element.

'7. A unitary heat exchange element and packing holding member for use with surface heat exchangers of the juxtaposed plate type, comprising a metal plate, a flange carried by the periphery of said plate and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate, an outwardly projecting peripheral flange carried by the free edge of the perpendicular flange and lying in a plane parallel to the plane of the plate, and a resilient packing element lying against the outer surface of said perpendicular flange and against the adjoining surface of the peripheral flange.

8. A unitary heat exchange element and packing holding member for use with surface heat,

exchangers of the juxtaposed plate type, comprising a sheet of metal having its marginal edges bent to provide a flange extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the sheet and to provide a peripheral flange extending outwardly from the outer edge of said perpendicular flange and lying in a plane parallel to the sheet, and a resilient packing element lying against the outer surface of said perpendicular flange and against the adjoining surface of the peripheral flange.

9. A unitary heat exchange element and packing holdingmember for use with surface heat exchangers of the juxtaposed plate type, comprising a sheet of metal having its marginal edges bent to provide a flange extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the sheet and to provide a peripheral flange extending outwardly from the outer edge of said perpendicular flange and lying in a plane parallel to the sheet, a resilient packing element lying against the outer surface of said perpendicular flange and against the adjoining surface of the peripheral flange, and a stifiening element carried by the peripheral flange and spaced from the perpendicular flange sufficiently to accommodate said packing element.

.10, A unitary heat exchange element and packing holding member for use with surface heat exchangers of the juxtaposed plate type,

comprising a sheet of metal having its marginal edges bent to provide a flange extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the sheet and to provide a peripheral flange extending outwardly from the outer edge of said perpendicular flange and lying in a plane parallel to the sheet, a resilient packing element lying against the outer surface of said perpendicular flange and against the adjoining surface of the peripheral flange, and means carried by the peripheral flange to confine the gasket against outward movement.

RICHARD SELIGMAN.

WILLIAM EDWARD CROSBY. HUGH FREDERICK GOODMAN. 

